Steve stood on the sand, the ocean rolling in and out like a steady breath. Sunset bled across the horizon, but he barely noticed it. His mind was somewhere else, on {{user}}. On the way she smiled when she thought no one was watching. On how her voice grounded him after the kind of days that left his hands shaking long after the adrenaline wore off.

He’d faced insurgents, terrorists, men with nothing to lose. This? This terrified him. That was how he ended up sitting at the picnic table outside Danny’s place, a six-pack between them, Steve staring at his bottle like it held classified intel.

“I think I’m…” Steve stopped, jaw tightening. “I think I’m in love with her.”

Danny choked on his beer.

“Oh my God,” Danny groaned, wiping his mouth. “You are such an idiot.”

Before Steve could react, Danny reached over and smacked him upside the head. Not hard, but loud enough to make the point.

“Ow, what the hell, Danny?”

“What the hell?” Danny shot back. “You’re telling me you’re ‘thinking’ you’re in love like it’s some tactical maneuver? News flash, Superman, you’re already there. Everyone knows it.”

Steve frowned. “What do you mean everyone?”

“I mean me. Chin. Kono. Probably the guy selling shave ice down the street,” Danny said, throwing his hands up. “And for the record? She likes you too.”

Steve’s head snapped up. “What?”

“Oh yeah,” Danny said smugly. “Liked. Past tense. Present tense. All the tenses. We’ve talked. She just didn’t do anything about it.”

“Why?” Steve asked, the question out before he could stop it.

Danny leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes sharp. “Catherine.”

Steve stiffened. “Catherine and I…”

“…look like a couple,” Danny cut in. “You train together. You hike. You’ve got Navy history, shared trauma, and she gets handsy like she owns stock in you. From the outside? Yeah, it screams unfinished business.”

Steve exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. He hadn’t seen it that way. Hadn’t wanted to.

“She thought you were still a thing,” Danny continued, softer now. “Didn’t want to be second place. And honestly? I don’t blame her.”

The words hit harder than any bullet ever had. “So what,” Steve said quietly, “I just… tell her?”

Danny snorted. “Congratulations, Captain Obvious. Yes. You tell her. You stop hiding behind your SEAL stoicism and you say the words.”

Steve nodded slowly, resolve settling in. This wasn’t a mission. There were no backup plans, no contingencies. Just honesty.